The hunt for the throne vacated by Oscar Piastri will begin next week in Bahrain. On the track that hosted the first test session, in fact, a very talented Formula 2 season will start where there are numerous prominent names able to shine in the eyes of the Formula 1 team principals.
Veterans and rookies will have the opportunity to compete in a championship that has finally returned to normal after the bad attempt seen last year characterized by a distorted format and a calendar with exaggeratedly long pauses between rounds.
With the three races per weekend gone, it is now back to the classic Sprint Race on Saturday and Feature Race on Sunday, with the inverted grid applied only for the short race.
Closed 2021 with the clear and undisputed domination of Piastri, the question that arises is who will manage to emerge in this 2022. We have divided our favorites into two groups: experienced drivers and rookies.
The veterans
French, born in 2003, former member of the Sauber Academy, Théo Pourchaire will begin his second season with the ranks of the favorite for the final victory.
Pourchaire managed to attract attention already in his debut year in Formula 3, going so far as to fight for the title at the last race. The excellent 2020 allowed the transalpine to deserve promotion to Formula 2 always with the colors of the ART Grand Prix, and in 2021 Théo confirmed all his crystalline talent.
Theo Pourchaire, ART Grand Prix
Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images
If it is true that there was very little to do against the Piastri steamroller, it is equally true that what Pourchaire showed at the Munich event left everyone speechless. A pole conquered with half a second ahead of the first of the pursuers and a victory in Feature Race never questioned gave Fred Vasseur the certainty of having something special in his hands.
This year Pourchaire will necessarily have to improve the final fifth place obtained in 2021. Knowledge of the category, the car and the team will undoubtedly be an advantage to be exploited.
Genius and recklessness. When it comes to Liam Lawson, one cannot fail to notice how the New Zealand driver alternates weekends from phenomenon to others where the instinct to self-destruction prevails. In 2021, the season in which the driver from the Red Bull nursery split between Formula 2 and DTM, Lawson managed to shine in the first part of the season and then accused some missteps, even of a Hitech GP not at the level of the top teams. .
Liam Lawson, Carlin
Photo by: Formula Motorsport Ltd
For 2022 Lawson was hijacked by Red Bull into Carlin. A unique opportunity for the New Zealander to work with a team capable of fighting for the title. Will Liam be able to play the entire season without losing his temper and keeping a cool head?
Juri Vips
Another rough diamond of the Red Bull nursery, Juri Vips is called to the season of consecration if he wants to avoid losing the last faint chance to arrive in Formula 1. The Estonian is one of the most talented drivers seen in circulation in recent years, but in the 2021 has on several occasions been literally targeted by bad luck.
The Baku weekend brought him back to center stage with victory in both Sprint Race 2 and Feature Race, but after that weekend of glory for Vips, only bitter morsels came.
Juri Vips, Hitech Grand Prix
Photo by: Formula Motorsport Ltd
Juri will face 2022 still wearing the colors of the Hitech GP, a team not of the very first category and recently back in full possession of Oliver Oakes after the forced farewell of Dmitry Mazepin and the sponsor Uralkali. The goal is to find a consistency of performance that can make his talent shine.
Rookie
Dennis Hauger
We risked losing a real talent along the way. When Dennis Hauger arrived in Formula 3 in 2020, after winning the Italian Formula 4 title, everyone expected great things from the Norwegian, but the relationship with Hitech GP never took off.
Only one podium, in Hungary, then nothing. Hauger, as he admitted at the end of last season, began to doubt his potential, but then came the lifeline called PREMA to save him from the brink. With the Rosin family team, Dennis found himself and showed the whole world that he has an extremely heavy right foot.
Dennis Hauger, Prema Racing
Photo by: Formula Motorsport Ltd
4 wins, 3 poles, 205 points and the title of Formula 3 champion won at the last round in Sochi guaranteed the Norwegian’s right to move to F2 while remaining tied to the PREMA colors. Will we also see Hauger Power in his debut season in Formula 2?
Jack Doohan
One of the best surprises of 2021 was undoubtedly Jack Doohan. The son of art found in the Trident team the ideal environment in which to express himself at his best in Formula 3, and being able to counter Hauger’s overwhelming power until the final round made him understand all the value of the Australian.
However, it was not only Jack’s 4 wins and 2 poles centered in F3 that impressed Jack in 2021, but his speed in adapting to the F2 car in the two final rounds of the season.
Jack Doohan, UNI-Virtuosi
Photo by: Formula Motorsport Ltd
Seized the opportunity to race in Jeddah and Abu Dhabi with MP Motorsport (without really knowing the car), Doohan left everyone speechless in qualifying at Yas Marina when he risked getting pole before the “cannibal” Piastri decided to re-establish the hierarchical order.
This year Doohan, who in the meantime has left the Red Bull Academy to move to the Alpine one, will compete in the entire championship with the Virtuosi team. A choice that places him as one of the potential contenders for the title.
Logan Sargeant
There is a lot of talk about the need to have an American driver in Formula 1, and Colton Herta is often mentioned as the first option. Yet it seems to be Logan Sargeant the most concrete hope for the USA to be able to have its own standard bearer in the top flight all over again.
After a 2020 of the highest level in Formula 3 with the PREMA team, in 2021 Sargeant risked hanging up his helmet due to lack of budget. At the last moment, the agreement with the Charouz Racing System to compete again in the third series and Logan showed all his potential despite a team not at the top level.
Logan Sargeant, Carlin
Photo by: Formula Motorsport Ltd
To understand how well Sargeant did in 2021 just look at the ranking reserved for the teams. The Charouz Racing System closed the season in fifth place with 127 points. Of these, 102 were taken home by the American who finished the year in seventh position.
Sargeant, as well as Doohan, got a taste of F2 at the end of last year when he took part in the Jeddah weekend with the HWA Racelab team.
For this season the American will be able to count on the support of a much more competitive team like the Carlin team as well as that of Academy Williams who have understood the potential of a boy who is perhaps too underestimated.
Frederick Vesti
The biggest unknown this season is definitely Frederick Vesti. The Dane from the Mercedes nursery arrived in Formula 3 in 2020 after having dominated in the newborn – but with very few participants – Formula Regional Europen, and in the first year in the category he stood out by attracting the attention of the Toto Wolff team.
The second season in Formula 3, this time with the ART Grand Prix, did not live up to expectations and Vesti ended the year in fourth place without ever getting seriously into the fight for the championship.
Frederik Vesti, ART Grand Prix
Photo by: James Gasperotti / Motorsport Images
2022 will have to represent for Frederick the year of the definitive qualitative leap. Staying tied to the ART Grand Prix is an advantage, but coexistence with Pourchaire will not be the easiest for the junior Mercedes.
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